0 A.D. is a free, open-source, cross-platform real-time strategy (RTS) game of ancient warfare. It's a historically-based war/economy game that allows players to relive or rewrite the history of twelve ancient civilizations, from Iberia to Mauryan India, each depicted at their peak of economic growth and military prowess. Developed using Pyrogenesis, a ground-breaking new game engine custom-built to suit this project, 0 A.D. will give players a rich and entertaining real-time gaming experience.

I’m taking a break from the regular blog progression to address a recent question I received – regarding the instruments I own that were used to create the sounds of 0 A.D. :

All these blogs make me wonder: Just how many instruments does Omri have? He seems to own 5-6 instruments for every civilization!

Let’s start with admitting that I have a problem… I am an instrument hoarder, I have around 40 different ones in my studio…

Let’s take a look at the instruments that were used to create each civilization’s distinct sound:

Celtic Tribes:
The sounds of Celtica are based on a duo of D tin whistle and low D tin whistle, along with an Irish bouzouki, a Bodhràn (traditional Irish drum), a rain stick, and a fender acoustic guitar. Some tracks also feature a Celtic harp (sampled) and a fiddle played live by Shir-Ran Yinon!

Hellenic Tribes:
The Hellenic sound was created using a Greek bouzouki and a flute (played by Marta Mc’Cave!), as well as large frame drums, a djembe, a harp (sampled) and horns.
The Greek bouzouki is so prominent, some of the Hellenic pieces are based entirely on it!

Persia:
The sound of Persia consists of several stringed instruments – a handmade Oud, (traditional middle-eastern instrument with 11 strings and no frets), a handmade Saz (Turkish instrument with 6 strings), and a slightly more modern – home made fretless acoustic bass guitar.
As well as some percussion sounds – an African djembe, a Syrian darbuka, and a pair of bamboo shakers.

Rome:
The primary sound in the music of Rome is a mandolin, as well as the wind chimes which were recorded on my porch!Iberia:
The voice of Iberia is centered around the Spanish guitar, as well as a Fife, a tambourine and a shaker.

Carthage:
For Carthage I brought in percussion artist Dror Parker to play frame drum, darbuka, riq and toms.
He recorded those in freestyle, and I then built the music around his work.
While the Duduk is sampled, the bamboo flute was played live.

Mauryan Indians:
Sadly, I do not (yet) own a sitar, so I came up with a replacement and used my homemade fretless guitar.
I also recorded a snake charmer that was actually bought in India, finger cymbals, and a homemade rice shaker.

Wow, this really is a *lot* of instruments. I must confess that I didn't even know half of them - which is good! Different civilizations are probably better represented by local instruments than by globally used ones. Thank you for all your hard work and your inspiring music!